AT&T Halts Removal of Lead-Clad Cables From Lake Tahoe to Develop a ‘Further Record’

AT&T “strongly disagrees” with the reporting in a recent Wall Street Journal series asserting inoperative lead-clad telecom cables at the bottom of Lake Tahoe are a significant public health concern, said the company’s supplemental status report Tuesday (docket 2:21-cv-00073) in U.S. District Court for Eastern California in Sacramento. The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance sued AT&T in January 2021 to enjoin the company from continuing to release lead into the waters of Lake Tahoe. The parties remain at an impasse over removal of the cables, said AT&T’s report. The WSJ’s assertions “are based on testing of water samples collected by the same divers” who aided the alliance in its litigation, it said. Though AT&T didn't receive the complete test results, the information reported by the WSJ “differs dramatically from the expert testing commissioned by AT&T,” it said. “Under the circumstances, AT&T submits the responsible course of action is to develop a further record rather than remove the Lake Tahoe cables and work cooperatively with regulators and other stakeholders on a risk assessment,” it said. The Environmental Defense Fund agrees, it said.